Multiple Transoceanic Dispersals And Geographical Structure In The Pantropical Leafy Liverwort Ceratolejeunea (Lejeuneaceae, Porellales)

Abstract

Aim How disjunct distributions arise and why organisms differ in diversification patterns remain some of the most compelling fundamental questions in biogeography. We carry out phylogeographical analyses of the pantropical liverwort genus Ceratolejeunea to identify its geographical origin and the dispersal routes by which it gained its Neotropical-African disjunction. Furthermore, we investigate whether there is geographical structure in Ceratolejeunea on islands and whether island diversity is a result of radiations or recurrent migration